Krakow is one of the best places in the world for bar hopping – there are bars everywhere in Krakow. The only slight problem is that they can sometimes be a bit hard to find. The ‘obvious’ bars (the ones that are easy to spot) are always full of foreigners. A large portion of the bars and pubs in Krakow (especially in the Old Town area) are underground, with only a small sign outside. But, we have listed the best and most popular bars, and have included clear directions if the bar is a bit hidden.

The bars will typically serve only Polish beer ‘on tap’. The cheaper bars (ones with beers for 4zl) will often just have one type of beer (you can just safely just order ‘a beer please’), the more expensive bars (especially on the main square area) will almost always have imported beer bottles. But many tourists say that Polish beer is some of the best beer they have had, so be sure to taste some! And don’t forget about Polish Vodka.

There are two main areas in Krakow (about 10-15 minute walking distance away) – Old Town and Kazimierz (with Plac Nowy where the bulk of the decent pubs in Kazimierz are), so we have split the guide up into two sections.

There are not too many bars worth visiting between the Old Town and Kazimierz.

Top Bars in Old Town

Cheap and Busy Bars (4zl beers!)

There are a couple of Bania Lukas – the other one is in Kazimierz (see below). At weekends they are always popular due to very late (do they ever close?) opening hours and cheap 4zl beers. It is popular with locals, but you get plenty of foreigners in there. See more details here

Pijalnia is another popular and cheap bar. There are three in Krakow (two in Old Town at ul. Św. Jana 3-5, ul. Szewska 20, and one on Plac Nowy on Kazimierz – mentioned below). They do shots for 4zl, beer for 4zl, soft drinks for 4zl… Cheap food (8zl for every dish) too.See more details here

Ambasada Śledzia (Herring Embassy) is another cheap and busy bar. On the Stolarska street they actually have two bars (on opposite sides of the street). Like Bania Luka and Pijalnia they have beer for 4zl. One of the bars has an outside seating area – nice in summer. Both bars get busy at the evenings at weekends, but its always a good atmosphere. And, living up to its name, you can order a meal of Herring here.See more details here

General Bars

These are your run of the mill normal bars – not super cheap, but not expensive:

Despite its name, Antycafe is not really a cafe at all. It is a nice and trendy bar in the heart of Krakow. Lots of beers from the bar on offer here. They have an indoor smoking room at the back, which is a bonus if you want to have a cigarette. It is one of the largest (definitely in terms of length, anyway) of pubs in Krakow.See more details here

U Jozina (7 Tomasza street)

Jozina is actually a bar that specializes in Czech beer, and includes the lovely Holba on tap. Drinks are very cheap here, and despite it looking a bit small from outside there is a big room around the corner at the back with lots of seats.

Cocktail Bars

Movida Cocktail Bar is a popular cocktail bar in the Old Town area, open daily from 4pm until late. Lots of tasty cocktails for sale, and they occasionally do some good deals. Check them out!See more details here

Unique and Unusual Bars

Decent priced beer and completely free to play XBoxes and Wii’s (with all the modern games), Cybermachina is a great place to check out if you like to play a bit of FIFA or Tekken! They also have tons of board games for you to play. There are quite a lot of seats in this place, but it can get a bit busy in the evenings at weekends. But during the early afternoon you can almost guarantee that you can play any game you want.See more details here

While the Irish Mbassy pub isn’t too unique or anything, it has that Irish (or English) pub feel, and they do some great British/Irish themed food (although they are a bit expensive, around 10zl more than elsewhere). They show most sports games (UK, Polish and International).
This is on the same street as the gaming pub and the Herring Embassy pub).See more details here

Top Bars in Kazimierz

In Kazimierz there is one square you need to know – Plac Nowy. On the four roads that surround this square there are bars at almost every door. You can literally bar hop and go straight next door (maybe with the exception of when you hit a corner, having to cross the street first!). Here are a few of our favorites, but you will easily be able to find more. They are all reasonably priced in Plac Nowy.

Pijalnia, again is mentioned above in the Old Town section. It is always super busy in the Plac Nowy Pijalnia bar. Just next door (to the left, if you are facing it) there is another super cheap bar too.See more details here

General Bars

On Plac Nowy in Kazimierz you can’t struggle to find bars. They are all decent, just take you pick on one that you can spot a spare table in!